Next Time
by Temperclast
Summary: A chance meeting at the Grand Magic Games leaves two people wondering more about each other, and opens up the game that neither knew they wanted to play. M for future lemons.
1. Chapter 1

Next Time

Chapter One

* * *

He had first seen her during the Grand Magic Games. It was over as soon as it had begun, with him roughly bumping in to her in the market district before the games started. Her hair was short and blonde, and her dark brown eyes held a flame in it that he couldn't help but be drawn to. Her skin was lightly tanned, and she wore a black tube top and black and red striped pants. A black coat with gold trim was tied firmly around her waist. The oddest features were a strange tattoo on her left shin, and a golden gauntlet that ran all the way up to her shoulder, a red insignia decorating the capped shoulder. The verbal lashing she gave him left him as speechless as her appearance, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't forget her if he tried.

"That's why you need to watch where the fuck you're going! Are you even listening to me?"

"What's your name?" He nearly cursed at himself. It wasn't an apology, or even any indignation for her yelling at him. He ran in to her, bowled her over, didn't help her up, let her yell at him for nearly 10 minutes, and all he could ask for was her fucking name?!

Natsu Dragneel was not a very smart man.

The woman raised a brow, her eyes still wild, and her chest heaving slightly as she caught her breath. It seemed to be the snap she needed to remember that she was in public, and that making a scene here wouldn't be okay. Taking several more moments to catch her breath, she slowly inhaled a deep breath and exhaled it equally as slowly.

"My name is Dimaria." She replied calmly. Natsu ran the name through his mind a thousand times in an instant before standing up and offering her his hand.

"Sorry about that, Dimaria. I guess I wasn't looking at where I was going." Where the hell had that come from? Natsu never apologized to anyone, at least not one that he meant. "My name is Natsu Dragneel, and I'm competing in the Games!"

He saw Dimaria's eyes widen, the wild look seeming to gain a hint of panic. The woman babbled out a quick excuse and quickkly turned away from the man and ran off. Natsu watched her go, confusion present. She had just been so calm a minute ago, so what had changed? He quickly shook himself out of his stupor and gave chase to the strange woman, but as soon as he turned the corner that she had moments earlier, she was gone.

No. Gone didn't accurately describe it. It was like she suddenly didn't exist. He had her scent, exotic spices and the sea, and it was powerful. And then it wasn't. It wasn't weak, or mingled in with other scents, it was just gone. Natsu shook his head, shock still evident on his features as he made his way silently and slowly back to the inn. Nobody had ever vanished like that. Sure plenty had the ability to move quickly enough to disappear, or even fly away, but they always left a trail. A hint of their existence and the fact that they were real.

But not her. Not Dimaria.

Her ability to vanish without a trace left Natsu fascinated in a way he didn't think possible. For her to be able to do that, she had to be strong in a very unique way. Natsu slept that night with the understanding that he would need to find her again.

* * *

He did find her. He caught her scent in the middle of his speech to Sting during the chariot race. He kept his angered gaze on the Sabertooth mage, but his mind was doing everything in his power to pinpoint her without breaking eye contact from the mage. He caught her gaze after Sting left, if only for a moment, but it was all either of them needed. He saw the smallest hint of a smile on her face, and the pride in her eyes. They each shared the barest hint of a nod before the dragon slayer helped prop up Gajeel and the two went on to finish the race. He smiled as he thought of her gaze though. It told him what he needed to hear.

'We'll talk later...'

He found her that night. It was nearly two in the morning when her scent seemed to flood his room. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, his vision quickly adjusting to the dark of night. He quickly dressed himself as quietly as he could, making sure to sneak by each of the occupied rooms, and followed the scent down the stairs and out the front door. He gave a quick nod to the bartender wiping the counter, quietly stating he was going for a walk as he exited the bar. The man gave a silent nod and mumbled about locking up when he got back in as the dragon slayer left.

The scent seemed to permeate his tongue, he could taste hints of ginger and other spices combined in to a delicious heat. It lured him around the corner and nearly a block down before turning down a dark alleyway. She was leaning against a dumpster, the light from the street illuminating her just enough for Natsu to see her wearing the jacket that had previously been tied around her waist.

"Natsu." She greeted calmly.

"Dimaria." He responded, though not nearly as calm. He had so many questions for her. How had she projected her scent in his room without ever going in to it? How did she vanish? Why was she the dominant thought of his mind when he was here to fight for his guild and show that they were still the best?

"That was a nice speech you gave earlier." She replied, her voice not doing anything to give away her thoughts. Another thing to drive him mad, he thought to himself, that he couldn't get a read on her from the tone of her voice.

"It's not hard when it's true." Natsu admitted. Dimaria gave a soft chuckle, but otherwise didn't move. "But I have some questions for you, if you don't mind..." Natsu finished lamely, doing his best to seem nonchalant. Dimaria let out a soft sigh.

"Sure. Ask away."

"Why did you run away earlier?" He questioned bluntly.

"Not one to beat around the bush, are you?" She chuckled.

"No sense in it." Natsu answered back, catching on a bit to her game.

"Very well... Would you believe me if I said that I had a sick grandma that I suddenly needed to attend to?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" He shot back equally as quick as she answered.

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Only if the answer is no." Dimaria had to let out a loud snort at that.

"Well that's too bad. I had my reasons for leaving, and you're just going to have to take them at face value." She crossed her arms and Natsu resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Will I ever get the real answer?"

"Depends."

"On?" He asked as calmly as he could.

"Why do you want to know so much about me?"

"Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack." She stepped closer to the man, allowing him to finally see the wild eyes that captivated him in the reflection of the streetlights behind him.

"You're strong." He stated simply. Dimaria gave a soft sigh and stepped away from him, once more leaning against the dumpster.

"You were so close." She murmured quietly, her eyes showing him enough to see that she was disappointed.

Why did that hurt him so much?

"What?" He stammered out. Dimaria gave a soft huff before pushing herself off the dumpster and standing so close to the man that he could see the small freckles on her cheeks.

"You were so close to getting an honest answer from me." She spoke, her tone nuetral once more. "But if you can't be honest with me on such a simple answer, then how can I be honest with you?"

Natsu felt panic start to swell in his chest when she quietly pushed passed him towards the exit of the alley.

"W-wait!" He nearly sighed in relief when she did, just at the end of the alley. "Give me another chance! I'm just not thinking straight right now!" Where the hell was this side of him coming from? He never acted like this around anyone else, so what was special about Dimaria?

"Fine. We'll try this again next time." The blonde spoke calmly before turning the corner. Natsu quickly sprinted after her, but once again, she was gone without a trace. That when the answer of why Dimaria was so special hit him.

It was because she was Dimaria.

She wasn't like Lucy, or Erza, or Mira, or any of the other women he knew. She was unique in that she was so nonchalantly guarded, so open but closed off, that he couldn't help but invest himself in solving the mystery that was Dimaria. Everything about her was right in front of him, like a math problem where the answers were right in front of him, but he needed to figure out the equation used to solve them. And she had given him his first hint. The first clue that he needed if he wanted to figure out even a small part of her.

And he was determined to figure it out.

* * *

She found him again when everything was over. Future Rogue was defeated and the king had deemed it reason enough to throw a large feast, and though Natsu could eat enough to feed an army on his own, his appetite was suppressed on this night. He stood on the balcony of the palace, overlooking the city being rebuilt under the setting sun. His mind was still overwhelmed by everything that had happened. He had watched his partner die, fought a dragon, met a friend of his father's, and nearly died more times than he could count. His fist clenched at the thought of Future Rogue and his last words about Gray.

That Gray would become a dark mage, and kill Frosch.

He didn't dare give the thought any ground to stand upon. Gray was a good man, and though he and Natsu never got along, it never went deeper than their attitude towards each other. Natsu knew that, deep down, he held a level of respect for Gray that few others would ever have in his eyes. He didn't worry about Gray turning on everyone he knew because Gray would sooner end himself than become something so twisted.

His thoughts were halted when he caught the familiar scent of exotic spices. His eyes quickly scanned all around for a shock of blonde hair, only to narrow when he couldn't see a sign of her.

"Follow your ears." A whisper on the wind, but Natsu could almost hear the smirk on her face by the tone alone. He quickly leapt from the balcony to the edge of the wall and sitting himself upon it. He caught a hint of an amused chuckle, and snapped his head to the right. He was off the wall and in to the streets before the chuckle could finish. He must have appeared as a madman to the locals, running with no cease and whipping his head in any direction he could. He caught a spike of her scent and another chuckle, this one lighter and more airy. How was it behind him? He rounded on his heel and turned back down the street, only stopping when he passed by yet another alley and a whistle caught his attention.

"Dimaria?" He asked in to the alley, pausing for a moment to catch his breath. He decided to walk down the alley when he didn't recieve a response.

"You know the legends of the Siren?" Natsu quickly rounded when he saw the blonde leaning against the wall at the entrance of the alley. How had she done that? There were no streets the led here aside from the one he had been running down. She whistled once more, catching his attention as she awaited his response.

"Can't say that I do." Natsu replied. Dimaria pushed herself off the wall and motioned for the dragon slayer to follow her as she exited the alley. Natsu fell in step beside her rather quickly, not wanting to give her the chance to vanish once again.

Dimaria eyed him from the corner of her gaze before walking forward casually. "Legend is that the Sirens are ferocious predators disguised as beautiful women. The would perch upon rocky outcrops of islands and sing, and their songs were so beautiful that lonely sailors would become entranced by them and sail directly to them. They would crash their ships right in to the rocks and sink, and the Sirens would feast on the victims."

"Sounds terrible." Natsu hummed quietly as the two walked.

"It does." She agreed.

"So does your story have a point?" Natsu asked bluntly. Dimaria gave off a small laugh.

"The point of the story is meant to be discovered by the one listening. You're supposed to garner your own point from it."

"So did you garner a point from it?" Natsu turned to face her fully. Dimaria stopped after a moment and turned to face the man.

"I'll tell you if you'll be honest with me."

"I will." Natsu quickly agreed.

"Why do you want to know so much about me?" Dimaria held up a hand to prevent him from speaking for a moment. "This is the last chance I'll give you..."

"Because..." Natsu stammered for a moment. "Because I can't stop thinking about you. You just suddenly came in to my life, and then vanished without a trace. Nobody, no matter how strong or how fast, can do what you do. You fascinate me like nobody else ever has, and I can't seem to get you out of my head."

"So you want to know more about me, because you are confused by me?" She rose a single brow at him. Natsu shook his head.

"No. I want to know more about you, because I want to know you." He poked a finger at her. "Like where are you from? What kind of food do you like? I want to know what makes you, well, you."

"Fair enough." Dimaria supplied calmly. Before turning to face the man. " I suppose it's time for me to be honest with you. That story earlier, the one about the Siren, do you know why I asked you about it?"

"No." Natsu shook his head. "But you are still strange to me, so I figured it may just be who you are."

"It's not that." Dimaria laughed. "I told you the story because you remind me of it."

"Am I the lonely sailor, and you the captivating singer?" Natsu teased lightly. Dimaria huffed at him for a moment.

"Is that the feeling you took from the story?"

"I won't say no." Natsu admitted. "You have a hold on me that is strange at best, and easily dangerous."

"Then that puts us on equal ground." Dimaria spoke calmly as the two walked in to the market district. Most of the shops had closed for the night, but Dimaria didn't hesitate to walk up to the stall selling spices. She seemed to peruse the goods for a moment before ordering a small bundle of spices from the woman running the stall, who nodded and scooped them in to a small canvas bag. Dimaria handed the woman a handful of jewels and continued on her way, the confused dragon slayer still keeping step next to her.

"Can you explain that to me? What do you mean by equal ground?" Natsu paused when Dimaria suddenly turned on him.

"It means," She spoke quietly as she grabbed his hand and brought it between them. She gently pried his hand open and gently set the small bag of spices in it, before closing his hand with her own. Natsu stared down at their joined hands before turning his gaze up to the blonde woman. "It means that I feel the same way about you. I know that being around you is dangerous for me, just knowing who you are is enough to keep most people away. My brain is telling me that I should stay away from you, but my heart can't help but be drawn to you. I think, in the same way that I am your Siren, you are mine, and we will only lead each other to ruin..." She spoke sadly as she let his hand slip from her grip. Her eyes widened when she felt Natsu's other hand firmly grasp around hers.

"I don't believe that for a moment. I think that with enough time we can be allies, friends even. But I don't want you to disappear on me again. I finally got you to answer a question for me, and now I only have a thousand more, so don't go."

Dimaria gave him a soft smile before gently pulling her hand from his grasp. Natsu let it fall back down to his side limply, his wrist still warm from where she had gripped him.

"So I suppose this means that you won't leave well enough alone and never try to find me again?" She laughed weakly.

"I've tried all the way until now, and it hasn't worked, so do you honestly think that after today it would?"

"No." Dimaria admitted weakly, her eyes showing a bit of warmth to the man, who could only offer a weak smile. "But you can't expect me to just sit by and let you figure me out."

"Then how do I get ahold of you? Do you have somewhere I can send mail to?" Natsu asked as Dimaria took several steps away from him. She smiled as she gestured behind Natsu, who quickly turned to see that nobody was there. Turning back to face the blonde, he wasn't surprised to see her gone.

"Find me." Her voice was another fleeting whisper on the breeze. Looking to the bag of spices in his palm, Natsu held them to his nose and inhaled deeply, finding his sense of smell flooded with the familiar blend of scents that matched up to the blonde woman. Snapping his gaze back to the spice vendor, who had just finished closing up her stand, Natsu quickly walked over and grabbed her attention.

"Excuse me, ma'am! These spices you sold that blonde woman," Natsu handed the bag over to the woman, who opened the small sack and sifted through it before handing it back to the man. "Do you know where these spices come from?"

"Well most of these spices grow all over the continent." The woman said, causing Natsu to deflate. "But there was a unique one she requested." The woman gestured to a cluster of small red peppers in the bag. "Those are a breed of pepper that are pretty common in Fiore. But the ones she bought were a variation strain of the plant. If I remember correctly, that particular strain grows in Alavarez, mostly in the forests outside of the capitol city."

"I see. Thank you very much." Natsu spoke calmly as he wandered away from the market district and back towards the palace. If Alvarez was where he was going to find his next trace of Dimaria, then he would be going to Alvarez. But he had things he needed to take care of first. He had to get enough jobs done to save up some extra money for traveling, and get a few bags packed for what was likely a very long trip.

Alvarez was a very long ways away after all.

* * *

So I'm back. And I'm not homeless. But I am poor. So I edited this whole thing on a kindle that my dad gave me, and am uploading it from a hotspot that I'm boosting off of. I've had this in my head for quite a while, and figured I'd put something out there since my computer died and I lost all my other stories and progress. That was rough. Anyway, let me know what you think of it.

Hope you enjoyed,

Temper


	2. Chapter 2

Next Time

Chapter 2

* * *

"Has anyone seen Natsu?" Lucy whined as she wandered through the guild, doing her best to find her partner. Her rent was coming due soon, and Natsu had been hard to track down since they returned from Crocus. It seemed as if the fire dragon slayer had developed a knack for vanishing for days at a time. They had been back for nearly three months and she could only count on a few weeks where she could pinpoint the man's location.

"Haven't seen him, thankfully." Gray grumbled from his seat, shirtless with a tray of food in front of him as Juvia held a spoonfull of potatoes to his mouth. The man relented after a moment and opened his mouth, ignoring the squeal of joy as his mouth was suddenly stuffed.

"This isn't funny, Gray!" Lucy whined at the man. "My rent is due in a week, I barely have enough money saved, and I don't want to go alone on jobs. People get weirdly handsy when it's just me..."

"Why not just go with Erza then?" Juvia asked calmly while staring at Lucy, holding an even larger spoonfull of potatoes to Gray's mouth. The man tried to swat her hand away as the spoon began to insistently poke his cheek, smearing on it. Juvia gave up her quest when Gray's hand wrapped around her wrist, while the other pulled the spoon from her grip, and instead opted to grabbing a napkin and using it to wipe down his cheek, chin, mouth, forehead, ear, and whatever else she could reach. Gray set the spoon back down on the tray and grabbed Juvia's hand when it decided to go from wiping his face to seeing how low she could creep. Lucy felt awkward as she watched Gray struggling to keep Juvia from fondling him, while the blushing bluenette maintained direct eye contact with her.

"Erza has been acting weird all day." Lucy sighed. "I think that she thinks that she's being sneaky with Jellal..." Her eyes averting quickly when Juvia narrowed her eyes at the blonde and became more persistant with Gray.

"Help me Lucy!" The man groaned, using one hand to hold his pants up, while the other tried and failed to prevent Juvia's fondling. Lucy saw a vicious gleam in the water mage's eyes and decided to hold her hands up and slowly back away.

"I'm sorry Gray, but my rent is due and I really need to go find a job to do!" The blonde scuttled away after that.

Maybe Levy or Cana would be willing to take her along on a few jobs.

* * *

"Natsuuu." A flying blue cat whined as nestled in the pink hair of said dragon slayer.

"Yes, Happy?" The dragon slayer groaned. He loved his surrogate son with his entire being, but Mavis he could be annoying sometimes.

"I'm tired!" The cat whined even more as he began to ruffle Natsu's hair.

"I know buddy." Natsu agreed quietly. He knew it wasn't fair to Happy to go on this grind for jewels, the blue exceed having wanted to take a break for the last few weeks. They were a few hours out from Magnolia, and while Natsu would have loved to take a break at multiple points, he was finally ready for his trip. After having priced out a ticket to Alvarez, Natsu knew he needed to work his ass off to make sure he'd have enough for the trip and any other emergency expenses. After doing the math in his head, giving up, and then writing it down and doing the math on paper, he estimated he'd need nearly a million jewels for this trip.

Not a hard number to reach in a year, but exponentially more difficult in three months.

It wouldn't have been so hard for him if Makarov just made him an S-class mage, but Natsu had gotten over that complaint a month ago. Mostly.

"What are you even saving up for?" The cat grumbled, finally getting comfortable in his hair. "It's not like you ever needed the money before..."

"I know, Happy, but I gotta save up some cash 'cause I'm going on a trip."

"Oooooh! Like a vacation?" The cat perked up, curling tufts of pink hair in his paws.

"Not quite." Natsu corrected. "I have to go meet a friend, but they live really far away."

"How far away?" The exceed questioned.

"Promise to keep a secret?" Natsu replied in a hushed tone. Happy climbed down his shoulder and adopted a sneaky expression on his face and nodded. Natsu internally rolled his eyes, knowing that the exceed would sell the information to the highest bidder.

Or the first person to give him a fish.

"My friend lives in Alvarez." Natsu took joy in how Happy's eyes widened in wonder.

"Alvarez?! That's like, really far away!"

"Yup."

"So where did you meet your friend?" Happy asked, doing his best to pry more information from the dragon slayer. Natsu grinned as he recalled his very limited interaction with Dimaria.

"We met in Crocus, during the games."

"And you're okay with going halfway around the world to see this guy?"

"She's not just some guy!" Natsu exclaimed, only to clap a hand over his mouth when he realized his mistake. Turning his head slowly to catch a glimpse of his partner, he could only shudder when the exceed gained a very familiar glint in his eye and took off from his shoulder to fly just outside of his reach.

"Natsu got a girrrrrrlfriend!" The blue furred exceed teased. Natsu blushed as he tried his best to jump up and swat the cat, but to no avail.

"You shut it or I'll tell Carla that you think love is a joke!" Natsu shot back. Happy instantly frowned and landed on the man's shoulder with a huff, arms crossed.

"That's a low blow..." The cat grumbled. Natsu nodded in resignation, but didn't attempt to apologize. He instead reached up to rub his fingers between the cat's ears, which although the cat didn't change his posture, caused Happy to let out quiet purrs while they walked back to Magnolia.

* * *

"You're leaving?!" Natsu recoiled from his group of friends sudden outburst.

"Owww..." The dragon slayer whined as he used his pinky to clean out his ear. "It's not gonna be for too long! I'm just going on a trip for a bit."

"A few weeks is understandable," Erza spoke sternly. "But you said you're going to be gone for six months."

"So?" Gray piped up from the bar. "It's not like he hasn't done this before. Remember how he used to disappear for months at a time to go look for his dad?"

Natsu winced as he realized that it had been years since he had gone searching for Igneel, though he didn't feel as guilty as he thought he would. He justified that Igneel wouldn't be going anywhere, and if he found him later, he'd have even more to talk about to his father. Nodding to himself, he focused back to the conversation to realize that everyone was staring at him.

"What?" He questioned, causing several of the members to groan in annoyance.

"We've been asking you for the last minute where you were going, but you just sat there nodding to yourself."

"Oh." Natsu blushed mildly in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head. "Well why do you all want to know? You never asked before."

"Because we're a team." Lucy spoke from beside Erza, arms crossed with a light scowl on her face. "And we want to know where you're going in case we need to get ahold of you."

"Oh." Natsu replied dumbly. "Well don't we have some of those lacrima things?" He asked, turning to face Mirajane at the bar.

"Yeah." The demoness sighed as she pulled a lacrima out from under the counter. "It's just really hard to set up, and it doesn't always get the best reception."

"What's the range on it?" Erza asked the ashen haired woman.

"I dunno. Gildarts was over at the far edge of Pergrande, and we were able to get word to him." The take-over mage turned to Natsu. "Are you going further than the far edge of Pergrande?"

"Uhhhh..." Natsu visualized the distance between Alvarez and Fiore, trying to his best to compare the distances between the two. "No. I'm pretty sure I'm not going that far."

"And where exactly," Erza gained a dangerous glint to her eye, causing Natsu to shiver lightly. "Are you going?"

"I'm going to be going all over!" Natsu exclaimed quickly. Not exactly a lie, but he really didn't want to tell them the truth. The last thing he needed was for all of his friends to follow, and mercilessly tease, him about chasing after a girl in a foreign land after interacting with each other three times. "I'm just going to be going all over and seeing what I can find."

"And what are you hoping to find?" Gray asked him, now coming to stand beside Lucy.

"Something different." Natsu replied back. Again, not a lie, but he didn't need to be specific. "I've just been cooped up and I feel like going out on my own and seeing the world for a bit. I miss it."

"Indeed." Erza hummed thoughtfully. "I believe a change of pace would be good for all of us. I too would like to go out for a bit and see where the world takes me." She gained a dusting of pink across her face. "Maybe meet up with some old friends for a bit."

"So am I free to leave now?" Natsu asked. His bags were already packed, and he had bought his ticket the last time he was in Hargeon. His plan was to spend a week in Hargeon until his voyage, and then board the ship and be on his way.

For two months.

His stomach churned as he thought of having to be on a ship for two straight months. He did his best to calm his features as he caught the lacrima that Mira tossed to him.

"Yes. You have a safe trip Natsu, and bring as all back something." Erza replied. Lucy and Gray each said their own goodbyes, while everyone else gave a chorus of their goodbye. Natsu pocketed the lacrima and waved to everyone over his shoulder as he walked out of the bar. He had just shut the doors behind himself and turned the corner when he was stopped by Makarov, who seemed to have been waiting for him.

"Good afternoon, Natsu."

"Gramps." Natsu replied as he slowly walked passed the man. The guild master fell in to step with the dragon slayer, and the two walked at a comfortable gait.

"So, six months, eh?"

"Yeah. Figured a change of scenery would be good for a bit. Nobody ever grows strong staying still."

"And it has nothing to do with how different you've been acting since meeting up with a certain blonde in Crocus?"

Natsu stumbled, nearly falling in to a garbage can.

"How'd you know?" Natsu asked. As much as he wanted to try and lie to the man, he knew that the old man would see through all of it.

"I've know you since you were a boy, and while you may think you're sneaky, I can read you like a book. I saw the way you two looked at each other during the Chariot game, even if it was only for a moment." He reached in to his jacket and pulled out a manilla envelope before passing it to the dragon slayer. Natsu opened it up and flinched as he saw nearly thirty photographs of him and Dimaria in the market.

And they all looked pretty damning.

Every shot told a story, from the warm eye contact, to them holding hands as she handed him the spices, to him chasing after her like a desperate lover.

"Luckily for you, Jason has to have my permission before posting anything about my mages. I still had to pay quite a bit for him to keep quiet about this." Makarov nodded as Natsu gave off a quiet thanks. "So who is she?" Makarov turned an inquisitive gaze to the dragon slayer, who could only sigh and hand the envelope back to the man.

"That's what I'm trying to find out."

"I'm fine with you doing this, happy even, but can you please tell at least me where you're going?" There was an edge of pleading in his voice, and Natsu knew he could never stand against that tone from his surrogate grandfather.

"Alvarez." Natsu relented. "She smelled of spices, but the most strong among them was a pepper that grew exclusively outside the capitol city in Alvarez."

"That's a long ways away." Makarov spoke after a moment of silence. "And you're sure you want to do this?"

"I can't stop thinking about her, Gramps." Natsu sighed. "She's just so... unique! I don't know how it's possible, but everything about her is just so..."

"Her?" Makarov finished for him, eyes staring straight ahead. He could see Natsu nod from his peripheral vision, and could only sigh as he recognized the feeling.

The boy was in love.

"I'm not going to say this is a bad idea." Makarov began. "But when you get there, I want you to be careful. Alvarez is a neutral kingdom at best, and while we trade with them often, they aren't known for extraditing criminals. You don't realize how much you get away with here, but I want you to be extra careful while you're there. It's a different culture, and they have different laws. Follow them, because they also have different punishments."

"You make it sound like I'd get the axe for bumping in to someone." Natsu tried to lighten the mood, but sobered up instantly when Makarov turned a serious eye to the dragon slayer.

"I was there about 15 ago on behalf of the kingdom to assist in negotiating trade. While on a tour through their market districts, a guard from my entourage ignored the signs about not touching any of the merchandise on the stalls without permission. They cut his hand off right there, and nearly started an international incident. Over a cheap trinket."

"Wow." Natsu gulped.

"Yes. That's why I'm telling you to be careful. You are a guest in their country, and you need to abide by their laws, because they will not hesitate to punish you for being inconsiderate."

"I'll try my best." Natsu gulped, now a little more aware of the dangers of being in another country.

"They're a proud people from what I recall." Makarov hummed. "Respect is very important from the highest of their vanguard, to the lowest of vendor. Make sure you aren't rude."

"Got it." Natsu replied.

"Well then." Makarov spoke with a clap as he suddenly turned back towards the guild. "I wish you all the best, m'boy. Don't go knocking up this young lady before we even get a chance to meet her."

"Perv!" Natsu shouted after the old man, who only cackled in response as he turned a corner and vanished from the dragon slayer's sight. Natsu huffed as he walked back towards his home. Happy had agreed to stay with Wendy and Carla, and now his team was informed that he'd be gone, and that meant he was finally ready to go. Scrubbing his hands through his hair anxiously, the dragon slayer now had to grab his bags and get to the train station.

He had a long journey ahead of him.

* * *

His time in Hargeon had been pretty uneventful. Granted it was only for a week, and only Makarov knew where he was, and he wasn't here for work.

The point is that he was bored.

He was bored, and increasingly anxious. The ship he would be boarding had been docked for two whole days now, and the size of it was intimidating. The company he had purchased the ticket through had been adamant that this ship was state of the art, and even had some from of sway reduction technology to cater to those who became seasick easily. Each room had a bed, a private toilet, and a shower. Luckily the cost of food had been included in the price of the ticket, and according to the flashy brochure they had provided to him, it was an all you could eat buffet. Natsu was at least glad that they seemed to take the comfort to their customer to heart.

He couldn't wait to vomit in that private bathroom and exist on an all you can eat diet of dry toast and crackers.

For two months.

* * *

Another chapter out. I'm making these chapters kinda short, because I want to get back in to writing, and plan on finishing this story before I update any of my others. I plan for this story to be about 10 chapters, and that isn't much time for much depth but this story isn't going to be super deep. I'm going to try my best to do this story right, but I need to work on making shorter chapters than what I used to, just because I feel like it's really easy to lose interest when a chapter for a story is 12k plus words.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my story so far. Leave a review and tell me what you think, or shoot me a PM if you have any questions or recommendations.

Thanks for reading,  
Temper


	3. Chapter 3

Next Time

Chapter 3

* * *

Natsu stood shakily in line as people disembarked from the cruise ship and on to the docks for customs check. While the two months on the ship had done wonders for training him to combat his motion sickness, the mild victory over that was spoiled during his brief meeting with the captain on the vessel.

 _He clung to the railing as he emptied his stomach's contents once again in to the ocean. He had been on the ship for two weeks, and his body had finally started to adapt to the almost imperceptible motion of the ship. He felt well enough that he decided to hazard the buffet. He ate to his heart's content, enjoying the foods other than crackers and toast and water, and happily sighed as he stood up and began to trudge back to his room. He had made it nearly half way before his body decided that it couldn't function on the sea with a full stomach, prompting him to nearly throw himself over the edge and empty his stomach. He was brought from his misery when several rough pats cracked across his back between his shoulders._

 _"Easy now, lad. Don't need you burning away the new paint off the side of my new ship." Natsu turned to see a rather large man. Standing nearly two heads taller than him, the grizzled old man wore a white pants and a deep blue coat with the golden royal sigil of Fiore pinned to his coat. He wore a white beret and had a large white beard, a single black stripe running down the center. His tanned face bore many deep weather lines, and a single deep blue eye stared at him while a strap of black leather covered where his other eye would be. Natsu pushed himself off the railing, panting lightly as he turned around and slid down the railing to rest his back against the rail._

 _"Sorry about that mister... uhh..." Natsu looked up to the man who chuckled evenly._

 _"Gregory. My name is Captain Gregory Ishmae the Third of the Royal Fioran Navy, and you are currently blowing chunks off the side of my newest vessel."_

 _"Sorry Cap'n." Natsu groaned out._

 _"First time at sea?" The man asked as he pulled a pipe from his coat. Natsu shook his head as the man went about packing the pipe. A brass lighter was pulled from his pocket, and a quick flick later, the pipe was lit and the lighter returned to his pocket. He took a deep drag from the pipe and slowly exhaled._

 _"Then was it the food? I'd hate for you to be getting sick on my first tour of a civilian vessel." The man spoke calmly, staring out to the setting sun._

 _"Nah." Natsu spoke as he stared at the wall ahead of him. "Just never done very well on moving vehicles. Trains and boats are the worst for me."_

 _"Kinda stupid of you to book a vacation on a ship then, isn't it?" The captain took another drag of his pipe as he turned his gaze to the pink haired man._

 _"Yeah." Natsu admitted. "Not here for vacation though._

 _"Oh?" The man had now piqued the Captain's interest. "Then why are you here?"_

 _"I needed to get to Alvarez." Natsu supplied weakly only to turn in shock when the captain barked out a rough laugh. "What's so funny?"_

 _"If you needed to get to Alvarez only, then why not book a brigantine?" The Captain turned his pipe and tamped the embers from his pipe before slipping it back in to his coat._

 _"A what?"_

 _"A brigantine, boy. A really fast ship that people use for travel. It's usually what travellers use to go to Alvarez."_

 _"How fast is really fast?" Natsu asked, knowing deep in his gut that he wasn't going to like the answer._

 _"If nothing goes wrong and the wind stays at your back, a week. If there are some issues, it could be up to two. On average a brigantine can make it in ten days."_

 _"Then why the hell if this taking two months?!" Natsu exclaimed, only to suddenly feel weak as the ship rocked subtly. The Captain raised an eyebrow as he pulled a small journal from his pocket. He flipped it open and scrolled through several pages before turning the book towards the man, showing him a miniature map of Fiore._

 _"We are cruising along the coast of Fiore before doubling back and crossing the sea to do the same along the coast of Alvarez. We'll stop at their southernmost port to resupply and any passengers to disembark. We'll also be picking up some other passengers to bring back to Fiore. If you were just looking to go to Alvarez, I'm afraid you booked the wrong ship._

 _"Great." Natsu groaned. "Anything else to say to make me feel even dumber?"_

 _"Well..." The Captain let out a light chuckle. "With how much a ticket for this cruise cost, you could've purchased a brigantine of your own and paid a crew for a year to sail to your heart's content."_

 _"You're joking?" The man felt like he may cry at any moment as the captain shook his head._

 _"Afraid not. You booked a cruise for the wealthy and rich, but look on the bright side." The ship rocked and Natsu hoisted himself up once more to vomit over the side. "You only have six more weeks before we reach Alvarez. Enjoy your stay, and please try to keep from dissolving the paint on my ship... It's new."_

 _Natsu gave a weak thumbs up as the captain tapped out his pipe and walked away._

"Business or pleasure?"

Natsu was snapped out of his thoughts as he stared at the man seated at a simple wooden table, Natsu's passport in hand as he trained a calm eye on the pink haired mage. He wore deep blue military fatigues and a red beret, and several golden pins positioned on his collar told Natsu the man held some kind of upper rank.

"Come again?" Natsu coughed lightly, face flushed at being caught unaware. The man sighed, before repeating himself.

"I asked if you are here on business or for pleasure."

"Oh." Natsu supplied dumbly. "I'm looking for someone, so that's kinda business?" He finished questioning. The man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"The nation of Alvarez recognizes the guild system of Fiore, however we do not condone business on our lands without express permission. You are not dressed as Fioran Military and the passport you have handed me states no military alliances, not to mention we would have been notified of any persons visiting for military or private military business. I was not made aware of any such meeting taking place. I will ask once, and only once, why are you here?"

"I'm looking for a woman!" Natsu supplied, feeling thoroughly dressed down as the man in front of him stared him down with narrowed golden eyes. Natsu could only sweat as everyone behind him in the customs line began to murmur impatiently.

"Not enough women on your continent?" The man raised an eyebrow.

"Not like her, sir." Natsu swallowed thickly. "Dimaria is like-"

"Did you just say Dimaria?" The man interrupted, both brows now raised higher towards his hairline. "As in Dimaria Yesta?"

"Blonde Hair, brown eyes, wears a golden armlet?" Natsu questioned. The man nodded slowly, his gaze sharpening considerably as he took in the pink haired mage before him.

"That description does match somewhat to Lady Dimaria." The soldier grunted. "But now my question, and answer honestly as this is what will let me decide if you can stay or not, is why are you looking for her?"

"We met back in Fiore, I guess while she was on vacation. She told me to find her, and it took months of saving and tracking to get to this point and I just want to find her and talk to her and figure what is going on between us."

"Well then," The soldier supplied calmly as he reached over and grabbed a rubber stamp. "You are approved for a stay of ninety days. Conduct your business and be at the port or out of the country by noon on the ninetieth day or you will be considered a criminal in violation of international trade law and will be treated as such. The nation of Alvarez welcomes you, but do not forget the laws by which you must abide."

"Understood sir!" Natsu felt like he needed to stand at attention in front of the man, but held himself off. "Do you... uhhh... have any idea where I could possibly begin to search for her?" The soldier sighed as he grabbed a map from a neat stack and held it out to the mage.

"It is approaching fall now, which means that the spice harvest and festival will be going on. If my memory serves me correctly, your best bet on searching would be about an hours walk north west of the eighth district." The man pointed a finger at the general area of the map for Natsu to see where he was talking about. "Follow the road out until you find a dirt path heading straight east. Follow that path and it should take you to her clan grounds. If she isn't there, they will at least be able to guide you in the right direction."

"Thank you so much!" Natsu couldn't stop the grin on his face. The soldier merely grunted before handing the man back his passport and waving him away. Natsu bound away with as much energy as he could. Looking once more at the map, Natsu found where he was at the port, and turned himself toward the road he would need to go down in the eighth district. Doing his best to dodge people and carts, the pink haired mage was quick to set himself down the correct path. It was just before noon, and he saw no reason he couldn't at least make it to the encampment the soldier had spoken about before nightfall.

* * *

Natsu stretched, his knees popping as he sat against a tree, and munched calmly on a granola bar. He had made it through the city, though he had underestimated it's size, in little under five hours. He had decided to stop and eat a snack, which consisted of two packs of jerky and a box of granola bars with several bottles of water, before heading back on to the road. If his sense of time wasn't awful, then he was about forty minutes out from either her or his next lead to her. He was broken from his thoughts when a large cart, pulled by two oxen, stopped in front of him. He brought his gaze up to the driver, and blinked at the man.

He was shirtless, showing deeply tanned skin and corded muscle. His brown hair was short, and his square jaw held a small patch of greying beard under his lower lip. His brown eyes stared at the pink haired man in question before he spoke.

"You look for Yesta clan this way?" His voice was a deep baritone, and his accent was thick, startling Natsu somewhat. The man seemed to be only slightly taller than Wendy, but his voice was deeper than Laxus.

"Yeah."

"For why?" The man tilted his head slightly.

"I'm looking for someone." Natsu supplied calmly.

"For Yesta?"

"Yes. Dimaria." Natsu spoke.

"Ahhhh!" The man sighed happily. "Little Dima! I forgot it was festival!" He laughed, stepping down from the cart and walking up to the pink haired mage. The man came up to the middle of Natsu's chest.

"Do you know where I can find her?" He asked the chuckling man.

"Das!" The man nodded witha grin, pointing to his cart. "Get on! I take to Yesta harvest. Ahhhh little Dima will be masch jayeigh to have man like you look for her!"

"Masch jayeigh?" Natsu parroted the man as he climbed on to the cart. The man climbed on and sat next to the mage before grabbing the reigns and snapping them once, causing the oxen to move once more.

"Das!" He said once more. "I am not of good speak for Fioran. In your language I think it means... great joy?" He finished somewhat weakly. Natsu nodded in thought before smiling at the man.

"My name is Natsu Dragneel!" He held a hand out, stomach only briefly churning as the cart hit a bump in the road. The smaller man took his hand in a strong grip and shook it.

"Da'rial Yesta. All of friend call me Darry." Natsu noticed the strange way the man rolled the 'r' and slurred the 's' in his speech, but attributed it to his language.

"So how do you know Dimaria?"

"She is cousin. Very far cousin. We grow up together. Serve Temple together. She like sister." Darry supplied happily as the cart trudged on, picking up speed slightly. Natsu rubbed his stomach uncomfortably for a moment before focusing on the man once more.

"What was she like growing up?" Natsu questioned. The man laughed and began to regale the mage in tales of a childhood in a smaller clan.

* * *

When the cart arrived in to the village, everyone had to stop and stare at the two men sitting side by side, talking in an animated fashion.

"And she say to you to find her?" The man questioned loudly, his gaze full of awe as he stared at the pink haired stranger.

"Yeah!" The man exclaimed loudly before digging around in his pocket for a moment before producing a small canvas pouch. "She gave me these, and then I looked up and she was gone, but she told me to find her!" Natsu handed the pouch to the small man, who quickly opened it and pulled out a small bundle of peppers.

"She give you cha'yeh, Natsu?" The man asked excitedly as he gestured to the peppers.

"Yeah!" Natsu nodded. "It's how I was able to find out she was here. Is there something special about them?"

"Not special really." Darry took one of the peppers from the bushel and ate it. "But is way to find Dima, so is special for that!" He took off another pepper and handed it to Natsu. "Is hot. Too hot for many in clan. Maybe eat small and see if you like."

Natsu took the pepper and pooped the whole thing in his mouth. Chewing slowly, everyone watched his eyes grow wide before a smile threatened to split his face in two.

"These things are great! Gimme another!" Natsu exclaimed as he held out his hand. Darry Laughed before tossing the whole bundle to the man.

"Take Dra'faey! I like you. You are not, how they say in your language..." Darry trailed off in thought as several people began to unload the cart. Natsu watched the man as he chewed on another dried pepper, savoring the smokey heat coming from it. He was brought back as Darry snapped his fingers, a bright smile on his face. "You are not pussy!" He exclaimed loudly, causing several men around the cart to guffaw loudly, and Natsu to nearly choke on his peppers. He coughed several times, pounding a fist in to his chest. Darry chuckled as he slapped the mage on the back, nearly throwing him from the cart.

"Thanks!" Natsu chuckled weakly before stepping down from the cart. He helped unload the last few bags from the cart before turning back to face the village. Men and women both wandered the village, carrying hand tools and baskets. Many seemed invested in their own tasks, however there were quite a few who seemed interested in the pink haired man. Natsu examined that all of the people, from the eldest men and women to the children running around playing, were all wearing armlets. Some were silver or bronze, but they all had various jewels adorning them. Natsu was going to ask Darry what they meant, but the smaller man was nowhere to be seen.

"I was wondering what all of this noise was about." Natsu turned at the sound of a woman's voice. She had long blonde hair, faint streaks of sliver cutting through the strands, and familiar deep brown eyes. On her left arm was a golden armlet, and a deep sapphire embedded in to it. She wore deep red robes, with streaks of gold trimming the collar and sleeves. A royal blue scarf tied around her waist gave Natsu a good idea of her figure.

She was beautiful. Like an older version of Dimaria, but somewhat more subtle. Her eyes held a deep wisdom, but he could clearly read the mischief in them as well. That, and the playful smirk.

"Sorry about that." Natsu apologized. "Darry said something funny and my mouth was full and I'm kinda nervous and I'm rambling..." He finished weakly, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. The woman let out an airy laugh.

"Think nothing of it, young man. Now who might you be? I'm familiar with every trader who enters my village, and you are quite a new face. And speaking Fioran, no less!" She finished with a slightly narrowed eyes, causing Natsu to gulp. "Brought in by my joyful nephew, and eating our dried chilies like candy. You may not speak our language, but at least you are interesting." Her eyes stayed narrow, but her smirk grew.

"Thank you... uhhh... ma'am?" Natsu supplied weakly.

"Rona. My name is Rona Yesta, and I am the matron to the Yesta clan." The woman held a hand out, gesturing to the camp as several men began to light campfires around the village. "Welcome to my village, though I still don't know why you are here..." She finished calmly, though Natsu could read the question in her voice.

"I thank you for the welcome, Miss Rona." Natsu bowed, trying his best to remember every lesson on being polite that his friends had tried to drill in to his skull. "And as for my reason for being here, I am looking for someone."

"Oh?" Rona spoke, causing the man to raise his head. "And who might you be looking for? A criminal perhaps? A farmer or hunter? Or perhaps a woman?" Her grin grew as she saw his eyes widen. "Oh so it's a woman you're after? Who might it be? Sweet Milla from the spice market? Aeala of the hunters?"

"None of them, I'm afraid." The man spoke sheepishly before his face brightened. "Wait you said you were the mother of the clan?"

"Matron." Rona corrected. "But yes, I am the person in charge of the clan for the most part."

"Then maybe you can help me find her!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly.

"Perhaps if you tell me who you are looking for..." Rona waved a hand lazily through the air.

"Right!" Natsu chuckled weakly again. "Do you know a woman named Dimaria. Short blonde hair-"

"Brown eyes, and a golden armlet with a big ruby in it?" Rona finished for him. Natsu nodded quickly. "She's about this tall, "Rona held a hand out to about her eye level. "And she wears a lot of black and red?"

"Yeah! That's her!" Natsu exclaimed.

"I think I would know her pretty well." Rona supplied. "I know everyone in my village pretty well, but I think I'd know my daughter relatively well." The woman's smirk turned to a grin when she saw the man's face stare at her in shock.

"You're."

"I am the mother of Dimaria Yesta, and guardian to the Temple." The woman smiled in mirth at the gobsmacked man in front of her. "So to answer your question, yes I know where to find Dimaria. My question to you, is why? Why do you wish to find my daughter?"

Natsu tried his best to give Rona the summary of the interactions between the two of them, as well as Dimaria's parting words. When he was finished, the woman barely held in a sigh at the young man before her.

"Well, young Natsu, it seems as if the fates have at least deemed you worthy of a chance at my daughter." The woman gestured the man to follow her. Natsu fell in to step behind her as she walked to the opposite end of the camp. By now, many had begun to cook their meals as the scents of spiced meats and vegetables washed across the village of ramshackle huts and tents. Natsu took in the sights of happy families around him as he followed the matron to a separate section of the camp. The tents that were set up in this location were a bit lower in quality, and Natsu only saw various men sitting around the fires, all seeming to glare at each other as they ate. Rona turned to face him just before entering the camp. She held an iron armlet out to the man, the spot where the gem would sit was hollowed out.

"What's this?" Natsu questioned as he held the armlet.

"A symbol of your status in the village." Rona supplied calmly as she slid the armlet on to the man's left arm. It was snugged on to his bicep before Rona took a step back and turned to face the men in the camp. Natsu noticed that they all wore similar iron armlets, and now most angry eyes were focused on the pink haired man.

"Why do I need to wear it though?" Natsu was confused now.

"To enter the competition." Rona waved over one of the villagers who supplied Natsu with a sleeping bag and a cheap canvas tent. Natsu took the items and held the bundle in his arms.

"What competition?" Natsu asked weakly as Rona gently placed her arms on the man's shoulder and pushed him in to the camp.

"The competition for my daughter's hand in marriage."

* * *

I'm not dead. I am sorry. My work schedule got changed and so now I'm having so little time for anything. I Do have several more chapters roughly typed but they need to be edited so I'm doing that. Then I'm uploading whenever this old tablet can connect to internet.

Let me know what you thought,

Temper


	4. Chapter 4

Next Time

Chapter 4

* * *

"What?" Natsu could only stare dumbly at the Yesta matron for a moment.

"Her hand in marriage." Rona spoke calmly, gesturing a hand toward the camp full of men in front of Natsu. "All of these men have come from all over the country to try their hardest to impress the Yesta clan, and earn my daughter's hand. From what I can remember, though, you are the first man to ever come from half a world away." Rona turned a curious eye to the man as she allowed her thoughts to wander. "And the only man that she has ever invited. You are just becoming more and more interesting. You never did tell me your name..."

"My name is Natsu..." The man supplied from his stupor. "Natsu Dragneel."

"Dragneel..." Rona's eyes widened imperceptibly as she turned away from him to walk away. "Very interesting indeed. Well, young Dragneel, I would suggest you set up camp and get some rest. Darry will bring you some food in an hour or so when it is done cooking."

"Wait!" Natsu's eyes suddenly sharpened, the man no longer trapped in his stupor. Rona stopped, turning to face the pink haired mage with a curious brow raised. "I... I don't want to be part of this competition... I came here to find Dimaria and talk to her. If I would've known that I would be coming here to compete with all of these guys for the chance to even talk to her..."

"Speak, young Dragneel." Rona's tone was sharp, causing the man to wince.

"If I would've known that all the trouble I went through to get here would only put me as a part of this strange game, then I probably wouldn't have come at all."

"I understand your concern," Rona eyed the man calmly. "And if you truly wish to withdraw, then I will allow you to do so." She raised a hand to halt the man as he began to reach for the iron band across his bicep. "Tomorrow. Wait until tomorrow afternoon to truly withdraw from this."

"Why?" Natsu questioned, his eyes holding a challenging gleam.

"Because tomorrow Dimaria will be here to address the challengers, and the competition will begin the following day. If, after her speech, you still wish to leave, Darry will be taking a shipment or spice back to the port, and you can ride with him." Rona gestured back to the camp. "At least rest here for the night. You have traveled a very long way, and I would be a very poor host to not at least offer you shelter for the night."

"Right. Shelter." Natsu snorted, gesturing to the cheap tent and sleeping bag in his grip before sighing. "Fine. I'll stay tonight, but unless I get a damn good reason to stay tomorrow, I'll be on the first load out of here."

"My daughter's hand in marriage is not a good enough reason?" Rona asked, her gaze just short of glaring at the man.

"Your daughter is the only reason I'm here." Natsu countered. "But everyone has to step away at some point. Traveling across the globe, fine. Playing part in some game with a hundred other guys just to get a chance to speak with her," Natsu sucked in a breath through his clenched teeth. "No amount of gentle touches or sweet mysterious whispers are enough to get me to stay through this."

"I understand." Rona's eyes softened slightly. "Go rest. Darry will be by shortly with some food for you. Dimaria will be speaking to everyone at noon after first harvest."

"Right." Natsu turned away from the woman without another word and trudged in to the camp, shuffling by several campfires and weaving around the seated men as he tried to find a spot to set up. His searching was interrupted when a large man stood in his path.

"You lost, little Scroa?" The man taunted. Natsu had to arch his head to stare the man in the eye. Standing nearly two heads taller than himself, the bald man eyes him with a sneer. A leather harness was all that covered his tanned and scarred chest. A simple white cloth tied around his waist held up his brown cargo pants.

"Just going to set up my tent." Natsu frowned lightly as the sneer turned to a grin on the man's face.

"Of course, little Scroa, I know of the perfect spot for you." He gently pulled the tent and sleeping bag from Natsu's grasp. "You see," He pointed across the campfire. "There is a free spot outside of my fucking camp!" He yelled suddenly, hurling Natsu's tent and sleeping bag in to the open fire. All the men around the two seemed to bellow in laughter as the canvas tent and sleeping bag seemed to instantly turn to ash in the flame.

"You piece of-"

"You don't belong here, Scroa!" The man jeered, several other men cheering in agreement. "This is a place for men! You are a lost little boy, who wants to play grownup. Go cry to your mama and have her tuck you in for bed." The man let out a billowing laugh. Natsu took a step forward, but a hand on his shoulder quickly caused him to turn around, ready to fight whoever had dared. His posture relaxed slightly as he took in the stone faced look of Darry, who quietly shook his head.

"Ignore Bagan. He is a little fila." A few coughs of laughter rang out to those nearby who heard him.

"A fila?" Natsu asked as Darry handed him a plate loaded with meats and vegetables and guided him to sit by the fire.

"Yes. It is word in your language means girl dog."

"Girl dog..." Natsu trailed off in thought for a moment. "You mean a bitch?"

"Das!" The man chuckled loudly. "Bitch. Bagan is just little bitch." Several more laughs echoed out again. "Sorry about tent."

"It's alright." Natsu mumbled around a mouthful of food. "I don't really ever use a tent, so its fine."

"Not about tent." Darry sighed. "It about idea. He has no right to treat you different then him. Both are guest to Yesta. He like to think he is king."

"But he's not," Natsu swallowed and turned a grin to the smaller man. "He's just a bitch."

"Das!" Darry laughed heartily. "Bagan is big man with little spirit, who like to pretend he is a hundred men tall."

"Right." Natsu finished his food, setting the wooden plate as he leaned back and stared at the sky. The sun had finally set, and the stars were out. Natsu stared up at them for a moment before turning his gaze to Darry. "Do you think I made a mistake coming here?"

"Mistake?" Darry stared at the fire for nearly a minute before turning to the mage. "I do not know. I can not say I would travel across world for woman, but I have never felt that for woman." The man sighed at the flame. "I would not say you made mistake, chasing heart. I would say it is too late anyway."

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked the man.

"Say you never come here. You choose to never come to find Dima. You spend your life after that with regret to not come here. Say you leave tomorrow, instead of fight to win her hand. You spend your life having to remember you run away. I have learned much in life, Dra'faey, but you know what is most strong lesson?"

"What?" Natsu stared at him, The smaller man's eyes seeming to glow as he stared at the fire.

"You have more regret for what you did not do, than what you did do. Say you enter, and you lose. You can live knowing you did best you could. You leave without trying, then you live forever asking what if. Those regrets hurt most, because they make you feel like coward. I would rather to fail on my back, bleeding in to dirt, than to feel like I ran away to save myself trouble."

"I guess you're right." Natsu sighed as he laid himself back fully, staring at the stars once more. "I just feel like after learning about all of this, those moments between us don't mean as much. I mean, who's to say that she didn't do this with every guy here?" Natsu tried his best to keep the emotion from his voice. The last thing he needed was to sound hurt around a bunch of other strangers.

"Dima is not like that." Darry spoke quietly. "Dima is strong woman, and she has strong mind. She is smart, but she is not cruel. She has never been like that with any other man." Darry paused for a moment before leaning over to whisper to the man. "She did talk of you to me once before."

"She did?"

"Yes." Darry nodded. "She came back from Fiore, acting like little girl again. It was strange to see her like that again. Happy and full of smiles. It took a lot of talks to get her to speak of why. She talked of man with pink hair! Pink!" He chuckled to himself. "She talked of how he made her feel like little girl again. Made her forget all her trouble here."

"Troubles?" Natsu asked, his gaze shifting over once more.

"Das." Darry nodded quietly. "She hides it well from Rona, but I know that she does not like Yesta clan."

"What do you mean?"

"She loves Yesta family!" Darry corrected. "But Dima always hate Yesta tradition. She is free spirit, and Yesta tradition never let her be free." Darry looked sadly at the fire. "When we were children, Dima always talked of exploring. Of doing what she wanted, when and where she wanted. No burden of tradition. All Dima ever want is to be free. I think it is why Dima is never home."

"I thought she was here?" Natsu questioned.

"Nagh." Darry shook his head. "Dima work in city, for Emperor. She will come in tomorrow morning. Dima is strong, and when Emperor see her power, he demand she work for him. I think she took because Emperor gave her freedom under him. She serve him, but she is free to do as she wants on her time."

"Does she ever visit?" Natsu asked. Darry closed his eyes once more, a pained expression on his face once again before sighing and shaking his head.

"Nagh. Dima only come when tradition say she come. It break my heart to see that look in her eyes when she comes home. I see her in town, when I can. I worry over her."

"Why?"

"Because she is strong. Emperor is making her stronger, but I do not know how. I can see in her eyes she is tired. I worry that Emperor will break her spirit. I do not know what she does for him, but I know is killing her." Darry turned a sad smile to the man. "It is why I like you. She came back from Fiore, so much like she was. Happy and free. She told me about you, and I saw the jayeigh in her. You made her spirit happy. That is why I was happy to find you on that road. I saw your pink hair, and you look for Yesta and Dima. I knew you were that man, and that gave me hope." Darry Reached in to his bag and pulled out a small jar. Passing it to the man, he gave one more smile before standing up and brushing himself off.

"What's this?" Natsu asked as he stared at the jar.

"Candy cha'yeh." He grinned as Natsu opened the jar, pulling out a thinly sliced pepper and sniffing it. "We make with sugar and vinegar." Natsu shrugged and popped one in his mouth, chewing slowly. His eyes widened before tipping the whole jar in to his mouth, devouring nearly half the jar in one go.

"These are amazing!" Natsu spoke after swallowing. Darry only laughed.

"Das!" He reached a hand out to the dragon slayer on the ground. Natsu gripped it and allowed the man to pull him up to his feet. Nodding his head slightly, Darry gestured for Natsu to follow him. "This is tradition." Darry gestured to the camp around him. "I think it is stupid tradition, and so does Dima, but it is still tradition. Winner gets to marry Dima. This has been going for over ten years. Men try to win her hand, and she fights like bearcat to stop them."

"She fights too?" Natsu asked in surprise as he dodged around several drunken men dancing around a campfire.

"Das!" Darry smiled proudly. "Tradition never say she can't. She goes in to competition to fight so she not have to marry." His smile turned somber. "She wins every year. This year is different though. Dima is on last year to be married. She must have husband after this harvest, or she will be banished from Yesta."

"I figured that's what she'd want." Natsu supplied as they approached the center of the camp. "That way she'd be free to do what she wants."

"Das, but Dima loves Yesta family. And Dima's power is tied to Yesta clan. If she is banished, she loses power. It leaves me with worry."

"Why?" Natsu asked with a raised brow.

"Because she is so strong. She has a lot of power. If she loses it all, she could be hurt. I worry it could kill her." Darry turned a worried gaze toward a large crowd of men drinking and wrestling around a campfire in the center of the camp. "It is why I hate Bagan. He has come here for every harvest, and always wins until Dima fights him. Nobody can beat Dima, but I do not think she can fight this time. Bagan is pig, a little fila who would use her power to hurt people."

"That would be bad." Natsu hummed in agreement as he watched Bagan wrestle several men at once, barely looking winded as he effortlessly broke from their grapples and pinned each man quickly.

"I love Dima, and want her happy. You make her happy. I want you to win." Darry admitted. "If you can not win, I want you to lose after having given all you have. I know you do not like tradition here," Darry gestured around the camp once more. "But it is not by any choice that Dima is here."

"I can't promise that I'll fight." Natsu spoke after a moment. Darry cast a sad gaze toward the dragon slayer. "But I can at least listen to her. Do you think I could convince you to ask her to come talk to me tomorrow? I want to hear her side of this before I do anything."

"I will try." Darry smiled and nodded quickly. "Dima will at least listen to me. If I ask of her to do this, she will likely do it."

"Thank you." Natsu nodded at the man, turning his gaze once more toward the wrestling men and frowning in distaste.

"I should not tell you," Darry whispered to the dragon slayer. "But that big tent in front of fire." He gestured to a large tent, seemingly made of multiple smaller tents. "That is Bagan's." Natsu stared at the man for a moment before a feral grin split his face.

"You know, Darry, it is such a lovely night. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Das?" Darry raised a brow at the man as the dragon slayer stepped closer to the campfire.

"And I think on such a lovely night, it would be a shame for just me to sleep under such beautiful stars." Natsu reached a hand in to the fire, pulling out a rather large log with one hand.

"What are you thinking!?" Darry asked in alarm as he watched the man grip the burning log in his hand as if nothing was wrong.

"I'm sharing the beautiful experience of sleeping under the stars!" Natsu exclaimed as he hurled the burning log in to Bagan's tent. Within seconds, the tent was a roaring inferno, causing many in the camp to begin to shout in alarm. Darry was about to flee to find water, but a firm grip on his shoulder from a still grinning Natsu caused him to pause. The dragon slayer turned back to the inferno, seeming to analyse it for a moment before stepping up to the flaming tent and giving a mighty inhale. Within moments, the flames were completely gone, and Natsu stood with bulging cheeks in the center of the flames. Darry stared in awe for a moment as the man seemed to swallow the flames and let out a satisfied sigh afterwards before walking back to the shocked Darry.

"My tent!" Bagan bellowed as he stomped in to the ashen remains of his once proud structure, trying to salvage whatever he could from the remains.

"Not too shabby." Natsu dusted his hands off and pat his chest for a moment. Darry turned a shocked gaze once more to the man before grabbing the hand that had grabbed the burning log. Upon further examination, he saw no damage to the hand, and could only bellow a laugh as he realized that the man before him must have some sort of special aversion to fire.

"You!" Both men turned back to see Bagan stomping toward them, face a picture of rage as he breathed through gritted teeth.

"Me." Natsu grinned at the man, adjusting his posture for the imminent brawl. Bagan was several paces away from him when Darry stepped in front of him and slapped a hand in to the man's stomach.

"No fighting outside of the festival or I will toss your fila ku'laah out of my village so fast that your clothes will burn!" Natsu was astounded when this kindly man, who was half the height of the giant in front of him, spoke with such strength that it broke Bagan from his rage and seemed to have cowed the giant.

"That little scroa destroyed my tent!" Bagan bellowed after a moment.

"And you destroyed his." Darry countered. "I could get rid of you for that, but Rona would be mad."

"You little!" Bagan raised his hand, and Darry stepped forward.

"Do it!" The smaller man shouted. "Do it so I can have your head mounted from my cart!" Natsu watched as Bagan lowered his hand and turned away, stomping away from the charred remain of his tent. "That is right, little fila! Run away like coward we know you to be!" Bagan didn't turn around, and only stomped further in to the crowd. Darry let out a sigh and walked back to Natsu, who only stared at the man in shock.

"That was awesome!" Natsu exclaimed.

"That was only time I could help you." Darry stated with a grin on his face. "Rona will not let me back in here again. Yesta are not supposed to pick favorites. I broke rule to help you just now."

"Thank you, Darry." Natsu spoke after a moment.

"Think nothing." Darry shrugged with a grin. "It felt good to yell at that fila. He has been pain in ku'laah for over ten years." Darry turned once more and clapped Natsu on the shoulder. "I will talk with Dima tomorrow when I see."

"Thanks." Natsu looked around for a moment, noticing there were quite a few people staring at him and Darry still. "Know where I can sleep without anyone looking for me?"

"Das." Darry nodded. "There is river and hunting ground that way. Wait some time and sneak out at night. Don't go in to village and you will be fine. People in festival can not go in to village." He gestured to the iron band. "Don't take off band. You can go in to grounds with band, but trespasser are not treated with kindness." Darry said.

"Thanks Darry." Natsu spoke as the short man nodded and turned to walk out of the camp without another word.

* * *

Morning for Natsu arrived as soon as the sun rose. He rose with a tired sigh as he went about his morning routine. An hour later, and he was fresh and ready for the day. Looking up toward the sun, Natsu estimated he still had a few hours before Dimaria would speak to the competitors. With another sigh, the man decided to do some exercises to pass the time.

Natsu must have lost track of time during his exercise, because a rustle in the trees snapped him out of his focus. Climbing up from the pushup position, the man stood tall as he turned toward the sound, catching a familiar scent on the breeze, but seeing nothing else. He turned his gaze all around him, picking up faint rustling in seemingly random locations, but never seeing anyone. The scent around him continued to grow stronger and stronger, as the sounds grew closer and closer.

Until finally the world fell silent.

He could no longer hear birds chirping, or the river a scant few meters away flowing. He could hear footsteps though, and turning toward them, revealed the entire reason he had traveled the world.

"Long time no see, Dimaria."

* * *

So I did notice a few concerns last chapter, and am using this chapter and next chapter to address them. Mainly the thought that Dimaria feels nothing for Natsu, or that she used the same way she was with him to bait others in to coming. I won't answer too much more here, but I hope to have at least hinted towards what mindset I think both parties are in. Also, I'm not including any translations for some of the words, intentionally. Going to places where multiple languages are spoken, people often mix their mother tongue in to their sentences in English. It ultimately falls to you to infer a meaning to the words, given that I won't have Natsu stop and ask what every word means.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the next few are still being edited so they may take a while. Let me know your thoughts or concerns, and you're always welcome to pm me if you wish to pick my brain.

Kind regards,

Temper


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I'd say it's good to see you again," Natsu turned fully to face the blonde, his dark green eyes catching hers. "But I have too many questions right now." He wouldn't say he was satisfied in seeing her flinch, but he certainly didn't feel anything close to remorse.

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" The woman spoke quietly, diverting her gaze to the ground next to Natsu's feet.

"Not really." Natsu shrugged indifferently.

"I am." She supplied. "I didn't mean to get you mixed up in this."

"But how else could this have gone?" Natsu countered as he took a step toward the blonde. "You knew that this was coming up. You knew that there was this huge competition to marry you, and not only did you not tell me a bit about it, you told me to find you. How else was this supposed to go?"

"I don't know!" Dimaria yelled back at him, startling the man. "I don't know how it was supposed to go. All I know is what I wanted to happen. I wanted you to find me. I wanted to stay with you in Fiore. I wanted to not be Dimaria Yesta, High Priestess of the Yesta clan, for fucking once!" She shouted, taking an aggressive step toward the dragon slayer. "I wanted to just be me! I wanted to just be Dimaria the nobody and not have to deal with all of this bullshit!"

"I get that!" Natsu took another step toward her, less than a few feet between them as his own simmering anger bubbled to the surface. "But why couldn't you tell me? Why would you make me go through so much to find you, if you knew I would still have to do this competition that I might not win?"

Dimaria was silent.

"Did you even want me to find you?"

She refused to speak, or even look at him, but the slight nod was at least a workable answer.

"Did you think I'd find you? Did you think I'd come?"

She shook her head in the negative.

"Did you think so low of our time together that I wouldn't try everything to find you? Did I not make as big of an impact on you as you did on me?"

She didn't respond physically or verbally to that.

"Why won't you answer me?"

"Because I can't!" The woman closed the distance, coming to stand face to face with the man. "I didn't expect for you to find me. I thought you would have gone on with your life and I would have gone on with mine, like we were supposed to. We were never supposed to meet."

"But we did!"

"And I have never been more miserable!" Dimaria stabbed a finger in to his chest as he stared at her in shock. "You went and made me happier in a few conversations than I've felt in years! Why couldn't you have not seen me? Why couldn't you have just not come to find me? Why can't I just stay away from you?" She finished as angry tears poured down her cheeks.

"Because you said we're drawn to each other." Natsu gently placed his hands on her shoulders, resisting the urge to hum when he felt the shock of warmth that greeted his fingertips. She turned a weary eye upon him and exhaled slightly at his touch.

"We're not supposed to be." She murmured quietly while breaking eye contact with him.

"What does that mean?"

"It means I was never supposed to go to Fiore." She supplied. "I was supposed to use the vacation time to return to my tribe and begin sorting out this whole stupid competition." She held a hand off to the side and rotated it slowly.

"But you didn't?"

"No." She gave a weak smirk. "I didn't. I got in to an argument with my mother on the first night and took the first brigantine I could to Fiore before my mother or the Emperor could stop me."

"Why would the Emperor stop you?" Natsu tilted his head in confusion.

"That's... That's not important." Dimaria supplied weakly. "What's important is that I broke the rules and went to Fiore, and then I made the mistake of meeting you."

"You're saying that meeting me was a mistake?" Natsu whispered, not even attempting to hide the hurt in his voice. Dimaria hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.

"I'm saying we weren't supposed to meet. I wasn't supposed to be in Fiore until-" Dimaria quickly silenced herself with wide eyes. Natsu turned a suspicious gaze to her.

"Until what?"

"Until I was ordered to be." She replied lamely before taking a deep breath. "Nobody from the Alvaran military was supposed to step foot in the Kingdom of Fiore unless directly ordered to by the Emperor." She droned out, causing Natsu to raise a confused brow.

"But why?"

"I don't know!" She snapped, causing the dragon slayer to recoil in surprise. "I don't know why we aren't allowed to go to Fiore, only that we aren't allowed to go. When the Emperor found out I went to watch the games..."

"What happened?" Natsu asked. "What did he do to you for leaving?"

"Nothing too bad." Dimaria assured him. "We have to sell our harvest for about three quarters what it's worth. The clan is well off enough that it's not going to damage us for this year, but if it were to happen next year as well..." Dimaria finished off, eyes travelling to the ground at the dragon slayer's feet. "It would make for a very harsh winter for the clan."

"Why do you work for him if he's such an asshole?" Natsu asked, getting her gaze to turn back to him. Dimaria let out a small huff that could have resembled a chuckle.

"I'd say because I love my country, but having been all over the globe, I can tell you it's not that. I'm not really the gung-ho patriot type that wants to die for my country, so I guess it's not that. The best reason I could give you is that I don't really have a choice. My clan has had the high priestess serve in the Alvaran military for the last 400 years. I've spent my entire life being drilled in my duties as a priestess as well as being a soldier," Dimaria pulled away and walked over to a tree stump and sat down on it. "And I've hated it from the start."

"What do you hate about it?" Natsu asked as he walked over to stand before the stump, watching as Dimaria lost herself in thought, her finger idly tracing the grooves of the stump she sat on.

"..I love the power." She began after a short pause. "I love the feeling that flows through me. I love that using it makes my blood sing, and it only gets louder as I turn myself over to it, but I hate all of the things that came attached to it. All of the ceremonies, the promises, the duties, and all of the responsibilities that have been loaded on to my back since I was 10." She stood in a huff, nearly bowling Natsu over as she began to pace around Natsu's campsite. "All of the bullshit that I had to do. Everything they made me do..." Her pacing stopped. "I hate them."

"Hate who?" Natsu asked as she turned toward him once more.

"The Emperor... My mother too..." She mumbled as she rested her forehead on his shoulder.

"You hate your mother?" Natsu asked, gently wrapping his arms around her waist as she grabbed the lapel of his vest. Dimaria turned her head to the side as Natsu pulled her closer, sighing and shaking her head slightly.

"No..." She supplied. "I don't hate her. I just hate that she's so focused on tradition. I've done everything as she taught me, exactly like she taught me, and it just feels like it was never enough. She was never happy with me. All I ever wanted was to be free of her stifling me with all the damned traditions, and then when I turned 14 the Emperor came to the village. My mother had served the Empire before she became pregnant with me, and I guess she knew that it was my time. Before I could even figure out what had happened, I was swept away from the village and stuffed in to military fatigues and put in to the academy. They taught me everything there about serving. I learned how to march and how to fight. They taught me how to eat, sleep, and breathe Alvaran military conduct, and I'm not going to lie in saying that I loved it. It was a taste of the freedom I never got around my mother. Once classes were done for the day we had free time to do whatever we wanted, so long as we conducted ourselves appropriately as representatives of the Alvaran Military." Dimaria let out a chuckle. "I think my first month of free time was spent eating candy and drinking soda in the mess hall. I'm told I acted like a little girl who was left home alone for the first time, and I loved it. I did start to calm down after a while. They called it my 'Settling Period' and it was pretty damn good. I made friends too. I always had Darry and the other kids in the village, but even then I was always the future high priestess to them. Plus my mother never let me play nearly as rough as I wanted to." She snorted as she broke contact with him and returned to her stump. "'Conduct unbecoming of a priestess' she would say before forcing me back indoors to study etiquette or something else that was stupid. But I made friends in the academy, and they had no idea who I was. Sure they gave me a hard time for being a farm girl, but they were still some of the best friends I had from back then. Wish I had kept in contact with them..." She lamented lowly.

"What changed?" Natsu asked, sitting himself down next to her on the ground and leaning against the stump. Dimaria sighed again.

"Me. I changed. Though not so much that I changed as that I accelerated. They would release academy students for three months at the end of summer so that we could be with our families before starting the next year. But, for anyone that wanted the extra credit, they offered the light duty travel courses. I didn't want to go back home to spend three months under my dictator of a mother, so I signed up for the first position to get the hell out of the capitol and away from the village. They would take students who had certain certifications and post them at official positions to relieve men and women who wanted to go home for the season. We were kind of a relief force for non-essential members of the military. I ended up going to the northern border to work on some dinky little base as a laundry attendant. I spent three months as a 'stitch bitch' in a base that had no electricity or running water. Our orders and requisition forms, which were usually transmitted via lacrima, were sent to us in scrolls of paper. I hated it there, but I also loved it."

"Why?" Natsu craned his head to her, noting her gentle smile and the flicker of amusement in her eyes.

"Because it was my choice. Nobody made me sign the form to go out there. Not a single damn soul. That was all me, and even though I would go to bed with bleeding fingers from patching uniforms all day, I felt good knowing that I was doing something that I had chosen to do." She sighed lightly as she began to trace the rings on the stump once more, her gaze far away. "When the academy started back up, I suddenly had credit for half of my courses, so I got moved to the next year's courses. While my friends were learning the basics of gear maintenance and filling out requisition forms, I was being thrust in to combat courses. Turns out all the training my mother gave me was good for something. Without even knowing it, she had taught me the preferred combat style of the Alvaran military. I think it was because she had served, and in hindsight I was destined to serve as well, but I went in to that course with a level of skill that graduated me to the final combat classes that the academy offered. I tried my hardest to keep in contact with the people from my original class, but our schedules were so far apart, that I'd only see them occasionally in passing." She swallowed thickly as her hand stopped idly tracing the stump. "It was hard. I saw my classmates less and less, and the classmates I had in the advanced courses saw me as some little kid. Forget that I could thoroughly wipe the floors with them, I was just some outsider kid while they had all spent years training and learning together. Soon it came time for the break once more, and once more I signed my name for relief duty. The only difference this time was that I had my combat certification and was allowed on the battlefields. Alvarez has not been in any for of major conflict in 400 years, and I can only say that that statement is almost the truth. We were never involved in major conflict, but Alvarez has been in skirmishes all around the globe for the last century. My time as a relief was spent in Seven, during a conflict over mineral rights between Alvarez and Seven. Alvarez had struck a gold vein, but Seven claimed that because the vein was estimated to extend outside of the Alvaran territory, that the entire vein belonged to Seven. Alvarez of course fought this, and the two had conflict for about eight months before it came to a resolution. I got there right at the fourth month, when the fighting was the worst, and stayed until just before peace talks began." Her hand had found it's way on to his shoulder, grip firm as her eyes seemed to shimmer.

"What was it like?" Natsu tried his best to hide the wince at how strong her grip was on his shoulder.

"The best way to describe it was hell." Dimaria whispered. "We used the mine as our base of operations, getting supplies and troops smuggled to us from the local towns in the dead of night. They had us surrounded on all sides, and were constantly sending mercenaries in to try and route us out. If they had acted directly against us with their military, it would have been an act of war that Seven really couldn't afford. The fighting was awful." She shivered lightly and Natsu couldn''t hide his flinch as her grip grew even stronger. "They would find a way to get in to the mines and we would have to fight in cramped tunnels. We couldn't even use magic for fear of collapsing the tunnels around us. I saw a lot of men get killed that way, but they tried their hardest to keep me out of the fights. I would be running orders further back in to the mine or running supplies. I guess they all kind of agreed that a 15 year old girl doesn't need to be fighting and killing. I appreciate the effort, at least." She looked down at her hand, noticing her grip on Natsu before releasing it with a muttered apology and cradling her hand in her lap. Her gaze lost focus once more as she stared at her palm.

"You don't have to tell me any more." Natsu said cautiously, as if she was going to vanish at any moment; which she could do. Dimaria shook her head and locked eyes with the dragon slayer.

"You asked why I feel the way I do. I owe you an answer for coming out as far as you have for me." She nodded to herself before staring back down in to her lap. "They tried their hardest to keep me out of the fighting but every soldier on the front gets their time to fight. I was stationed on a rear patrol guarding coal miners when they hit. It was like there was a flash and then suddenly we were all fighting. I remember the sounds echoing off the walls as swords clashed, the miners screaming as they tried their best to flee from the area. I'm not sure how many men they sent in to the mine for that attack; but I do remember getting some room to breathe and looking around for my comrades, only to realize that they were gone. We had lost the lights during the attack, but the sound of fighting was gone. I could hear the mercenaries breathing, their gear shifting around, and their steps as they came toward me, and I realized I was alone. I think I was crying, but I remember my only thought as I was surrounded on all sides was that I was going to die, alone, in some fucking hole in a country that wouldn't even care enough to send my body back to be buried properly." Dimaria's tone warbled toward the end of her speech. Her eyes sharpened as she clenched her fist. "And then it happened. My magic had always been dormant, but I could get small flickers to happen. It always felt like I was trying to pull an ocean out of my chest whenever I tried to use it, but it wouldn't move like I wanted it to. It felt like it was asleep until that moment, and then my entire being changed. I wasn't tired anymore. Colors were brighter and sounds were sharper. My brain felt like it was moving at a thousand thoughts a second. I could tell exactly how many men were in there with me, 19, and where they were placed all throughout the room. I knew their exact positions and who was most tired in that group. My head felt like it was going to pop, and then I heard a voice behind my eye ask 'Why are you crying? You are not alone. I am with you, from now until the end of your days. Now let me guide you in how to fight like me.'" Dimaria unclenched her hand and looked at Natsu. "I know it sounds crazy, but this voice in my head showed me a lifetimes techniques in what felt like a second. I feel like I blinked and suddenly I knew what my magic was, how to draw on it, and every spell that my body was capable of using."

"What kind of magic is that?" Natsu asked, racking his brain for any type of magic that would be similar to what she had described.

"When a high priestess is born in the Yesta clan, they are born to a life of servitude toward the Yesta clan's god. They are tasked with interpreting the will of Chronos, the God of Time." Dimaria shook her head at the title. "But what they never told me, was that the high priestess was chosen as the host to Chronos, and that his soul would be bound to theirs along with his power."

"So that whole disappearing thing you can do..." Natsu began, his face twisted in thought. "And all of this..." He gestured to the still landscape around himself, noticing that the water from the river wan't just quiet, it was completely halted mid flow. His gaze turned back to the woman, who held a small smirk as she stood from her stump and cocked her hip. "All this is you?"

"Yep." She supplied proudly, before her posture shifted to a more demure one. "That day in the mine was the first time I had ever killed a person. Once command figured out what I could do, and that I knew how to control it, I was suddenly a frontline soldier. I spent almost two whole months fighting and killing, and suddenly I wasn't just some academy kid playing soldier for extra credit. I got a field promotion. Twice! I was suddenly given a squad and told to lead them. When my time came and I was on the first ship home, I imagined that I would be going back to my room, maybe touching up any reports that they needed me to. I was kind of looking forward to getting back to my dorm and just locking myself up with as much candy and soda as I could buy for the couple weeks I had until the academy resumed. Imagine my surprise when I get off the ship, and I have a Royal Guard escort wishing to escort me to the Emperor's palace. Long story short; the Emperor had been monitoring my reports and when he saw that I had activated my dormant magic, had decided it was time for me to fulfill my duty to the empire." Dimaria huffed and gestured to the jacket tied around her waist. "I have to wear that as a 'Declaration of my Status as a Member of the Royal Guard' and I hate it. I may have to wear it, but they never said how I had to wear it, and I'll be damned if I conform to every little thing they want of me."

Natsu snorted. "Rebel through and through, eh?" Dimaria gave a small chuckle at his question and nodded.

"I've had to do a lot of bad things, Natsu." Her smile fell as her eyes grew distant once more. "I've hurt people, ruined homes and families, and I've killed people. I've killed a lot of people; and I want to say that I've hated every moment of it, but I don't want to lie to you. There's been times that I won't say I enjoyed it, but I won't say that I felt bad about it either." Her gaze turned sad as she looked at him. "I know that it probably ruins whatever image you must have of me, but it's just who I am. I won't be a coward and blame my upbringing for it, and I won't lie to you and pretend to be someone that I'm not."

"What do you want?" Natsu asked her, throwing the blonde through a loop. Dimaria gave him a long pause before sighing deeply.

"I want to be free. If I want to travel, I want to be free to do so. If I want to settle down and have a family, I want to be free to do it. I want to be free of this stupid tradition and all the manners, free of whatever this indentured servitude to the empire is. I don't want to be caged by the Emperor and treated like some attack dog to release on enemies of the empire. The simplest answer I can give you, Natsu, is that I want my freedom."

"And if I manage to win this stupid contest, do you think you would be able to change yourself? To stop the killing and straighten out? Do you think you could still live your dreams if I was able to win this?"

"I... I'm not sure..." Dimaria hesitated. "I'm not sure if I'm able to change, but I can tell you that you're the only person that I'd be willing to change for." She smiled shyly at him.

"So does that mean we could try that whole dating thing that couples always do?" Natsu returned her smile with one of his own. Dimaria let out a giggle, surprising the dragon slayer at how feminine it sounded.

"I think we skip the whole dating thing and skip right to marriage if you win this." Dimaria extended a hand, which Natsu took before yelping in surprise when the blonde suddenly yanked him in to a hug. "But if you'd like, we can call this our first date and see how compatible we are until you either win or lose." She placed a kiss on his cheek, snorting at the small blush she could catch on his tan cheeks as his arms wrapped around her. "How does that sound?"

"Well..." Natsu paused, turning his gaze to meet the blonde's . "I think that I'd be willing to do that, I just hope you don't change your mind on this when I win."

"You sound so sure of yourself." She chortled in amusement, a light blush on her cheeks forming when his smile turned slightly feral.

"Of course I am! I already know I'm going to win."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" She asked as she broke the hug and backed away a couple steps. Natsu's response was to slam a flaming fist in to his open palm.

"I'm going to win because I have to. For you."

Natsu enjoyed the way that her cheeks flushed before he blinked and she was suddenly gone.

The sound of rushing water and rustling wildlife suddenly invaded his senses, causing him to wince slightly. He turned back to his pack before slinging it over his shoulder and walking back toward the village.

"Gonna have to get used to that."

* * *

Natsu's first sight upon entering the village was that of the Yesta matron waiting for him, flanked by a guard on either side. Her gaze was firm on the dragon slayer as the man stood before her, bowing slightly. She nodded back at the man.

"Did you enjoy your little excursion in to the hunting grounds?" Rona asked, her tone devoid of any emotion. Natsu gave her a toothy grin.

"Sure did. Love the fish here. They taste delicious with those spicey redberries. What are they called anyway?" His head cocked to the side slightly, eyes catching the flash of distaste across the matron's visage.

"They're known to my clan as Ignis Cherries. They are renowned for their spice, so not many would be able to consume them as they are."

"Well I guess I'm not like most people than." Natsu supplied.

"Indeed." Rona's gaze remained neutral, but the dragon slayer could hear the curt tone. Years of annoying Erza had honed him well on how to be an annoyance. "Traditionally, those cherries are used sparingly in foods, and are mostly used to repel the local hostile wildlife."

"Traditionally, huh?" Natsu questioned, noticing Rona's stiff nod. "Well I guess it's a good thing I hate traditions. Too stuffy, and never any room for fun." He noticed immediately the anger that sparked across the woman's gaze before she plastered on a fake smile, all to easily compared to the eldest Strauss sibling when she was a step away from twisting him in to a pretzel.

"I see. Well, young Dragneel, I fear I must retire from our delightful conversation. Do stay in the camp tonight so as to not miss the announcement for the first challenge tomorrow. It will be announced at first light, as is the tradition to kick off the festival of the harvest. Until then, young Dragneel, I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you, Miss Yesta," Natsu supplied a shallow bow once more. "I look forward to getting to know you better when I win this."

He turned away and promptly made his way back to camp, smirking as he heard her grind her teeth behind him.

* * *

So I'm not dead. Things have happened in my life, generic excuse here, but i ended up in a slump and losing my motivation to really do anything. I'm not going to go in to any details, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to start writing again as I get back in to the swing of life.

Sorry it took so long and I'll see you all next time,

Temper


End file.
